Paul Tough, a New York Times writer and editor, is one of America’s foremost documenters on poverty, education and the achievement gap. His book, Whatever It Takes is an inspiring portrait of Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone. The Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ),...

“New York Learns” offers the first composite picture of New York as an educational center” or stated in the language of this blog, it provides a brief overview of the vast learning ecology of New York City in 1939. Rather than a comprehensive list of the various types...

Laurence Steinberg’s book Beyond the Classroom is based on a comprehensive study of high school students. In it he forcefully argues that the home environment and home learning culture of academically successful students is what determines their success. According to...

Luis Benveniste, Martin Carnoy and Richard Rothstein conducted a case study of 16 schools -eight public and eight private – to determine which elements are most important to school effectiveness. They found no significant difference between the learning outcomes...

Jane Addams is widely recognized as a national leader in the settlement house movement, which began in the 1880’s. This movement demonstrated that even in the poorest communities, populated by people who lacked formal education all varieties of learning could flourish...

In her book, A Home in the Heart of a City, Kathleen Hirsch labels each chapter with a verb: “Walking,” “Working,” “Making,” “Playing,” “Associating” etc. in order to make clear to the reader that the heart of community is acting and doing. The essential point she...

When artistic inspiration hits, Deyondre, age 21, said his creativity is influenced by intrinsic intuition then a cognitive choice. “It’s more of a hunch,” he explained. “When I draw something, what I like are the pictures that have the most vibes. I’ll put my...

Mario Luis Small is a sociologist who has conducted research that questions the standard wisdom regarding poor communities and social capital. First, in Villa Victoria, Small compares the same neighborhood at two different times in its history. In 1990, Villa Victoria...

In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs pioneered understanding of modern cities and their neighborhoods that allows a nuanced sense of the relationship of the physical structures within cities to the maintenance of safe, friendly, lively and...

This is part two of our two part series on Jane Jacobs – The Death and Life of Great American Cities In the final chapter of her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs draws from an essay on science and complexity written by Dr. Warren Weaver in...